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Bad anxiety from noisy apartment

User Profile: AnxiousHaze
AnxiousHaze October 18th, 2025

Hi, I'm really struggling with anxiety and panic attacks ever since I moved into this new apartment earlier this month. 

To make a long story short, when I've moved out from my parents, I kept ending up renting places that were very stressful and at times unsafe for me. Most of the issues involved noise from other neighbors. I had been invalidated, harassed and even threatened when making noise reports. I've had my bike tires slashed, my car keyed and found garbage dumped on my car. I'm not making tons of noise reports or harassing the landlord or my neighbors. So far by the second or third noise report, there's some form of retaliation from my neighbors or the landlord tells me to "deal with it", which at that point I stop making reports. Nothing ever gets fixed. So making any sort of request or report causes me a huge amount of anxiety.

I have trauma-related anxiety regarding noise, mainly door slamming, foot stomping and yelling. Even if the disturbance has nothing to do with me, it still stresses me out. 

Due to health issues and a threat from one of my neighbors, I moved back in with my dad this past winter. Things have been toxic and after a particularly violent outburst from my dad, I started looking for a new place to live. This time from all my bad experiences, I really focused on finding a place that was concrete and sound proof. I don't want to ever have to make a noise report ever again. I'd rather be in neutral terms with my neighbors than to know them because they're stressing me out with their noise and hostility. I also don't want to feel like I'm walking on eggshells or having to be careful with my own noise either. I just want to have a home where I'm not constantly on edge, always wearing ear plugs and feeling like the "bad guy" for asking a neighbor to turn their pounding music down at 3am in the morning.

So I find a place that is advertised as being concrete and quiet, and for once it's not in downtown since I don't want to live in that part of the city. I do a walk through of the place, it sounded fine and I liked the property. Unfortunately, due to the violent incident from my dad, I was rushing to find a place before winter. I may have jumped the gun.

Fast forward to a couple of weeks of moving in and already there's tons of noise. There's a constant sound of running water and fans in the walls of my bedroom. Fine, I can deal with that by getting a white noise machine. But then two days ago I started hearing... quite a commotion from the upstairs neighbors. I hear yelling between a man and a woman. Lots of swearing, and at one point what sounded like someone angrily jumping up and down on the spot, causing the place to shake. I thought that because it was concrete that it would be minimal and that I could deal with it. But I couldn't... and the fighting has been going on for the past three days. 

And to make things worse, another couple have moved in beside me and right away there's already yelling and swearing and arguing from them. They also started blasting loud music that I could hear all the way in my bedroom. 

I'm devastated. I've been pushing myself to keep wearing noise canceling head phones all the time and keep noise machines on but... I can't live like this. I need a break from loud angry people. I'm too scared to make any sort of noise report, I don't want my neighbors to get mad at me again. I'm burned out from years of "dealing with" loud neighbors and angry people. I'm on disability and can't afford a house right now.

I've been keeping it to myself since I'm afraid I'll just be told I'm "too sensitive" or to just "deal with it" or that this kind of noise is "normal". My main priority was to find a quiet place and I thought this would be it. I'm feeling my depression coming back, I don't want to unpack my stuff or do anything. I just want to put my ear plugs in and sleep. I'm supposed to be moving on with my life but I feel stuck again.

I've had chronic anxiety for years but it has been mostly treated by medication. I'm seeing a counselor as well. But when it comes to living spaces and noises, I just can't stop my physical reactions to it. When I hear yelling or too much banging, it feels like the muscles in my shoulders and chest tense up and I feel a hint of adrenaline. Then I'll feel despair that I'm going through this same problem again. I try so hard to tell myself that I'm safe and that some noise is normal and to stop feeling so tense about it. But ever since the neighbors have been yelling and pounding for the past few days, I just can't get myself to calm down. Is this normal? Is there a way to just get the physical anxiety to just shut off?

Since the owners of the property are a bigger company, I'm considering calling them and telling them what's been going on and asking if there was a way I could move to another unit or another property. I'm just scared I'm going to be put down or even get threatened with eviction. I've had nothing but bad experiences with landlords and neighbors for over a decade. I'm an adult, I should be allowed to change my mind and find a new place to live but I'm poor so I feel so powerless and with little choice. Does anyone know if calling the company about this is a good idea? I'm afraid I'm going to get into trouble.

I can't only wear ear plugs and headphones for so long. I just want a home where I'm truly comfortable and relaxed and not feeling like I have to sleep with ear plugs all the time or scramble for headphones whenever someone decides to have a temper tantrum upstairs. I'm so tired. Any help will be well appreciated. 

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User Profile: AnxiousHaze
AnxiousHaze OP October 18th, 2025

Quick update: After doing some research on the building, turns out it's not made of concrete at all. Just wood and exterior bricks. This whole "concrete building that minimizes noise from neighbors" was BS or a copy paste mistake on the property's website. I feel vindicated, I'm not being "too sensitive" and that all this ruckus is because it's a wooden building. But now I'm pretty angry that I've been mislead to moving to a property that's going to take me awhile to move out of.

I'm taking screenshots of the property's website and the other sites that listed it's materials just in case. Hopefully it won't be too difficult or expensive to get out of here. Any suggestions or advice will be well appreciated.